Donors will match up to $55k in gifts to MetroWest Hunger Relief

Anonymous donors will match the first $55,000 the Foundation for MetroWest's Hunger Relief Fund receives in donations through the month of July, the Foundation announced Monday.

According to Ashley Peterson, marketing coordinator for the foundation, a "generous family" that was instrumental in establishing the MetroWest Hunger Relief Fund in 2010 will match, dollar-for-dollar, the first $40,000 in donations that the fund receives this month. Another anonymous donor has agreed to match $15,000 on top of that.

The Relief Fund benefits food pantries, community farms and food services for the elderly. According to Peterson, hunger is often an invisible problem, one that affects families that appear to be well-off but are actually suffering.

"The people we generally think of as being hungry are not the full picture," Peterson said. "There are people who need temporary assistance - newly-single parents, people who have just lost their jobs, people with disabilities. It's not just homeless people sleeping on park benches. You may think of MetroWest as a bunch of affluent communities with nice homes and nice cars, but hunger is right below the surface. I cannot say that hunger excludes any MetroWest community."

Last year the fund raised $87,000. Peterson hopes they can raise $110,000 this year, which would be the most money raised for the fund since its inception. The money will be put to use at food pantries and other local hunger resources by the end of August, she said.

"This year will be the biggest yet," Peterson said. "I can confidently say that this will affect thousands and thousands of people."

Donations can be made online at www.foundationformetrowest.org or by mailing a check to the foundation's office at 3 Eliot St. in Natick. If mailing a check, write "MetroWest Hunger Relief Fund" in the memo line. For questions or comments contact the foundation at 508-647-2260.

Brad Avery can be reached at 508-626-4449 or by e-mail at bavery@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @BradAvery_MW.